


You’ve Got the Rhythm In You

by alba17



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Ice Skating, Kissing, M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers likes kids, Stucky secret santa, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 21:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5555705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alba17/pseuds/alba17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky tries to teach Steve to ice skate. Steve flails, Bucky is obnoxious and there are cute kids and cold, wintry kisses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You’ve Got the Rhythm In You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keire_ke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keire_ke/gifts).



> Happy Holidays to keire-ke! Here’s your stuckysecretsanta gift. Winter fluff!
> 
> Thanks to significantowl for the beta.

The air was crisp, carols filled the air and the enormous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center towered above Steve Rogers, flat on his ass on the biting cold ice. Cackling with glee, Bucky glided off like he was born on skates. 

God damn it.

“That hurt, you know,” Steve said to Bucky’s long-gone back. Carefully, he slid-walked over to the fence and just barely managed to grab on to it when Bucky whizzed past, ruffling Steve’s hair on the way. 

“Hey, get yer ass in gear, _Captain America_.” 

Somehow just that small gesture threw off Steve’s iffy balance. His skates flew out in front of him and he was down again. Shit. And they called this a sport. More like torture on sharp, pointy pieces of metal. He was gonna have so many bruises after this. Nothing new there, but usually he had something to show for it. There was no glory in this, that was for sure.

“Why are you so good at this, anyway?” Finally upright, he tried to grab Bucky as he sped past _again_ , but Steve’s arms flailed and he barely kept himself standing. “Fuck,” he said under his breath, aware of the numerous children in the vicinity. The older ones fearlessly whipped in and out of the more sedate grown-ups, while the youngest ones were bundled up like little snowmen, inching along and holding on to their parents’ hands. Part of him wished Bucky would coddle him and do the same.

No such luck. On his next pass, Bucky twirled around and skated backwards, the jerk, hips dancing to a silent beat as he waggled his eyebrows at Steve. “Ready to give up, pal?”

“Show off,” Steve said. “And hell no.” On top of it all, except for that hat, Buck looked damn good, strong legs pushing from side to side. He’d always been better at sports than Steve, and he took to this naturally. Skating wasn't something kids like him and Bucky learned how to do. Stickball, sure, not that Steve was ever any good at it, but ice skating? No way in hell. His ma wouldn’t have let him spend all that time out in the cold anyway.

"Come on, old man, you can do it." Bucky snickered before taking off. The extra weight of the metal arm didn’t seem to throw him off at all; he swayed evenly from side to side as he alternated legs.

Steve shuffled along, afraid to push out with his feet. Damn it. He could jump out of airplanes without a parachute. Why did the simple act of gliding across ice seem impossible? 

A little boy bundled up like the Michelin Man inched along across from Steve, one hand on the fence, and Steve happened to catch his eye. "You too, huh?" The boy grinned shyly and looked up at his mom.

A strong arm took hold of Steve's tricep and for a second, Steve wobbled. "I gotcha," Buck said. "Don't let it be said that Sergeant Barnes didn't support his CO in a time of need."

"I'm never gonna live this down, am I?"

"Nope. Never, never, never. Not as long as I live." 

Oh god. 

With Bucky holding his arm Steve felt a little more confident. He found himself pushing off with his feet, warily at first, then with more assurance. 

"That's it," Bucky said. Steve threw him a grin. They were approaching the little boy and his mom and Steve was about to say hi, when a bigger kid zoomed out of nowhere. Trying to keep out of his way, Steve lost his balance and his hand caught in the mother’s scarf. The three of them, Steve, the mom, and the little boy, went down like bowling pins, ending up in a tangle on the ice. 

"Oh my god, ma'am, I'm so sorry," Steve said as he scrambled up, skates sliding, his gloved hands trying to gain purchase on the slippery surface. At the same time he attempted to help up the little boy, who started to cry. 

Bucky put his head in his hands.

The woman reached for her son, then looked up at Steve. He could see the moment when recognition hit. 

“Steve Rogers.” He held out his hand and she shook it. “I apologize. First time I’ve done this.”

“Heather Jones. Pleased to meet you.” She turned to her son. ”Look, it's Captain America! You know, like the action figure.” The boy’s crying abated slightly as he looked into Steve's face with curiosity. 

Steve knelt on the ice to stay on the kid’s level—easier than trying to stand up. "I'm really sorry, buddy. See, even Captain America has trouble with skating. Hey, I bet you can skate better than me. Wanna show me how you do it?"

The boy hesitated, then nodded.

"He can't really skate yet," his mom whispered. 

"That's okay," Steve whispered back. “Neither can I.” 

“That’s for sure,” he heard Bucky mumble from behind. 

“What was that, Sergeant Barnes?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Steve gestured for them to move on ahead so he could watch. "Show me how it's done, kid. What's your name?"

"Efan."

"Efan?"

Heather chuckled. "It's Ethan."

"All right. Ethan. Go get 'em."

Cautiously, Heather and Ethan started shuffling forward, hand in hand, Ethan looking back at Steve for a moment with a small smile. Steve nodded his encouragement and found himself grinning widely as they made their way along the ice. "He's a good kid," he said to Bucky.

Bucky squeezed his upper arm and smiled. "Captain America saves the day." Ethan turned around and waved, looking like he'd won the gold at the Olympics. 

"Good job, Ethan!" Steve called out. 

"Thank you!" Heather mouthed as they moved farther around the rink.

"Okay, pal it's your turn." Bucky's arms were crossed. 

Steve groaned. 

"You said."

"I said what?"

“One of my Christmas presents was today we'd do whatever I wanted. I wanted to go skating. And big man, I haven't seen you skate yet. That's not what I call skating."

"Since when are you an expert?"

Bucky's eyes flickered and Steve immediately knew he'd misstepped. Like he was always doing. Of course ice skating had to have been in the Winter Soldier’s bag of tricks. It was getting better, but there were still those moments. He took Bucky's arm and said, "Never mind, sorry. Show me. Like I'm Ethan." 

Features relaxing, Bucky said, "Rogers, if there’s anything I’ve learned over all the years, it’s always better to treat you like a child.” He skated a couple of yards away. “Okay, the important thing is to bend your knees just slightly to maintain your balance. Make sure your weight is evenly balanced between the front and back of your feet." 

Steve realized his knees were locked, so he bent them just a little, like Bucky said. The difference in his balance was immediately apparent. "Oh, yeah." And his weight was more on the front of his feet, so he shifted a little so it was more balanced. "Wow."

"Feel the difference? Okay, now push off with one foot, then the other. If you feel like you're losing your balance, bend your knees more."

Steve pushed off a little with one foot. He tried not to get unnerved by the feeling of the skate sliding beneath him. He could do this.

"Just go with it. Don't be afraid of gaining a little speed." Bucky let go of Steve's arm and took his hand. "Let's go as far as the next corner without holding on to the fence, okay?"

They took off. At first, Steve felt an overwhelming need to hold on to something solid and unmoving, but after all, Bucky was holding his hand and Bucky had always had his back. He shifted from one foot to the other, letting his foot slide forward with its natural momentum. It was a bit like trusting that his shield would go in the direction he threw it, once he understood its physics. "Wow, yeah, this is good."

"You're getting it." 

Steve shot him a grin. Nobody threw him off by zooming into his space; he easily glided forward. That was the thing about this Captain America body of his; it constantly surprised him. Even now, after several years and innumerable battles, there were things he had to learn how to do. Some of them all over again using his new body; others, like skating, were things that he'd never learned how to do in his old body.

Now he could feel the rhythm properly, the way his weight was supposed to shift from side to side, from leg to leg. He could see how it could be fun once you got the hang of it. 

Bucky smiled at him when they reached the corner. “Hey, pal, you’re catching on. Probably harder for you ‘cause of the size of your feet, or maybe it’s your big head, but we’ve all got our burdens to bear.”

Steve socked him in the arm.

As they rested for a moment, Steve noticed Ethan and Heather on the other side of the rink, still plugging along. Ethan was steadily skating, holding his mom’s hand, but not falling down and he seemed to have good balance. “Way to go, Ethan!” Steve yelled across the ice and gave him a thumbs up. Ethan awarded him with a huge grin and Heather returned the thumbs up.

“Whadduya say we go all the way around this time?” Bucky said. “Wanna try it? Get yer hand off the fence.”

“Sure thing.” Damn it, Steve hadn’t even realized he was holding on to the fence again.

They set off and this time Bucky kept a light grip on Steve’s elbow instead of holding his hand. By now, he’d gotten used to watching out for the speedsters. That seemed to be part of the whole experience and he didn’t mind, since he’d been a kid once too. Not to mention that old jumping out of airplanes without a parachute thing.

“That’s it, keep going. You’re doing great,” Bucky said, squeezing Steve’s arm reassuringly. Every now and then Steve’s foot would slide out unpredictably, upsetting his balance. His torso would rock back and forth, but he caught himself and stayed upright, that was the important thing.

“Halfway around,” Bucky said with a hint of glee in his voice. 

“All right.” Steve held out a fist to bump against Bucky’s. Bucky raised an eyebrow before returning the gesture. “What. I saw it on the internet,” Steve said.

When they made it all the way around, Steve felt a thrill of accomplishment. 

Smiling, Bucky said, “We’ll make you into a Sonja Henie yet.”

“I think that was your dream. Doncha remember, you read out loud to me every newspaper article about her, don’t tell me you didn’t.” For a second, Steve’s stomach plummeted when he realized what he’d said.

Bucky’s face flushed with more than the cold. “She was an Olympic skater. My god.”

He did remember. Steve snickered, pleased to be able to needle Bucky about something from the old days.

There was a loud beeping sound. People started heading for the exit. “Must be a break. There’s Heather and Ethan,” Steve said. “Let’s treat them to hot chocolate. Kinda wanna make up for knocking them over.”

“In a minute,” Bucky said. Suddenly Steve was swept away from the exit, heading across the ice with Bucky’s arm securely around his waist. The music was still playing, Bing Crosby singing _White Christmas_ in that low mellow voice that evoked men in suits with slicked back hair and the acrid smell of cigarettes. Against the tide of skaters heading for the exit, Bucky had firm control of their movements and swung them back and forth in a rhythmic motion, to the 1-2 beat of the music. Steve was startled into following him, Bucky leading him as if they were dancing. 

"Just do what I do and you'll be fine," Buck said, and he was exactly right. Somehow Steve's muscle memory had learned the correct motions and he fell into the proper sequence of shifting his balance between his legs, propelled by Bucky's arm around him and the soft flow of the music. Above them, the lights of the immense Christmas tree sparkled against the art deco magnificence of Rockefeller Center soaring into the city sky. It was magical.

Steve put his arm around Bucky, more confident now. "I think I'm getting the hang of this." Bucky looked at him from the side, keeping an eye on the few skaters still on the ice. His mouth curved up.

"Think so? Let's try this." Bucky abruptly swung in front of Steve and took his hands as he skated backward, pulling Steve along. A laugh burbled out of Steve. Strands of Bucky’s hair peeked out of that ridiculous hat that Natasha dared him to wear, a red, white and blue Captain America beanie with a huge white pompom. His blue eyes shone. It was good to see Bucky like this.

"This is fun, I gotta admit," Steve said, not letting go of Bucky's gaze.

"I _knew_ you'd like it if you just gave it a chance."

“After we get hot chocolate, we’re coming back, right?”

"Oh ho, getting ambitious now, huh?"

"Yeah, and we're gonna see how many times I can get around the rink by myself without falling or running into anyone."

"I'm guessing five."

"You're on, buddy." They were approaching the exit and while Bucky was turning around to make sure he didn't run into anyone, Steve crowded him into the fence, enclosing Bucky’s body with his own. Bucky looked at him in surprise while Steve leaned in and tenderly cupped Bucky’s face with one hand, the scruff rough beneath his fingers. "Got somethin' to do first." He pushed aside the loose strands of hair and kissed Bucky on the mouth. His lips were cold at first, but as Steve deepened the kiss, they warmed up. "Just wanted to say thanks." 

"Uhhh," Bucky said, dazed. "Yeah. That’s…it was nothin’, but now I’m wonderin’ what else I can do to make you this grateful.”

"Nothin'. Just be yourself. That's enough of a gift."

Bucky's hands tightened at Steve's waist and Steve let his hands drop onto Bucky's shoulders. They stood in a loose embrace, staring into one another's eyes for a moment before the buzzer blared once again.

"Better go," Steve said. “Wanna catch Heather and Ethan.”

"Five times around, remember?" 

“Ten!” Steve swiped that absurd hat from Bucky's head and lunged for the exit, praying he wouldn't fall. At the very last second, he lost his balance but broke his fall on the exit doorway. Hah. Bucky crashed into him from behind and they fell, laughing, skates tangling, half on the ice and half off. “Gimme!” Bucky yelled, but Steve kept the hat out of his reach. He held Bucky in place with an arm around his shoulders and shut him up with a firm kiss. “Fuck you, Barnes. Fuck you.”

“Is that a promise?” Bucky’s gaze was heavy-lidded.

“Yeah, it’s a promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi on [tumblr](http://annaluna.tumblr.com/).


End file.
